Pat Shurmur not calling the right plays to win games (Jim Ingraham)

MORNING JOURNAL/SAM GREENE
Browns Head Coach Pat Shurmur looks to the scoreboard as the Ravens take possession of the back late in the fourth quarter of an NFL week nine game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.

Only four more field goals and the Browns would have won. That's right. They were that close.

Hey, if Phil Dawson doesn't have nine field goals in him every Sunday, why even show up, right?

Final score: Ravens 25, Dawson 15.

Good grief. What in the world was THAT? On a day when the Baltimore Ravens were aching to be beaten, on a day when the Browns' offense seemed to own a time share in the red zone, the best they could do was five field goals?

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Seriously?

"We moved the ball. We got into the red zone. We just kept getting three points in instead of seven," said Browns head coach/play caller Pat Shurmur, who again seems to be wearing one hat too many.

The Play Caller's offense has now scored one touchdown in the last nine quarters, including none in the last seven quarters.

They can't get plays into the huddle on time, on third and whatever they continue to complete passes for two yards short of whatever, their philosophy on when to punt and when to go for it on fourth down seems to change from week-to-week, and their play calling can at times be amateurishly predictable.

Hey, here's an idea: as good a runner as Trent Richardson is, he doesn't need to carry the ball on first down EVERY SINGLE TIME.

In the second and third quarters Sunday the Browns ran 15 first down plays. Thirteen of the 15 plays were runs by Richardson. Another one was a pass to Richardson. So in 14 of those 15 first down plays, the Browns gave the ball to Richardson.

Hmmmm.

I'm no defensive coordinator, but I don't think it's very hard to defend a team when you know what's coming.

Hey, here's another idea: how about a first down pass now and then? Maybe even to a wide receiver or a tight end, if there's still one on the roster.

The Browns offense on Sunday went something like this: Dawson from 32 yards, Dawson from 28, Dawson from 29, Dawson from 33 and Dawson from 41.

Good thing he didn't call in sick.

The Browns' offense spent most of the day barreling into the red zone, then coughing, wheezing and grinding to a halt once there.

The red zone became their red-face zone, and Dawson jogged in to salvage three points out of the mess every time.

"We put ourselves in third-and-nines and third-and-eights. The field shrinks," said quarterback Brandon Weeden. "People can boo all they want, but Phil is a helluva kicker. So you don't want to force anything there."

The Browns' offense was brutal in the red zone and merely bad everywhere else. Weeden, whose quarterback rating (44) barely exceeded the temperature (39), threw two interceptions, and it could have been four or five if Ravens defenders had hands instead of claws.

"I'm sure he he'll watch the film and see some throws he'd like to have back," Shurmur said.

Weeden didn't have to watch the film.

"I missed some throws that I'd like to have back," he said. "You're not always going to have your best stuff."

This was bigger, however, than a rookie quarterback having a rookie quarterback-type of day. This was still another game in which the Browns were again plagued by a general sloppiness and a lack of crispness that extends to the play-calling, penalties, and a lack of overall organization on the sidelines.

This is stuff that shouldn't still be happening in week nine of the season.

"There was some sloppiness out there. I'll take the responsibility for that," Shurmur said.

The Browns had to burn multiple time outs during the game because the play clock ran down before Shurmur radioed the next play into Weeden.